Congratulations to Duke University K12 Scholar Maryellen Kelly, DPNP, CPNP, MHSc on receiving a CAIRIBU Interactions Core Collaboration Award for her proposal “Composition of the Urinary Microbiome in Children.” Dr. Kelly is joined by Co-PI Tatyana Sysoeva, PhD (University of Alabama at Huntsville) and Co-Investigator Lisa Karstens, PhD, MBI (Oregon Health and Science University). 
They have formed a new research collaboration to (1) evaluate, with species-level resolution, the urinary microbiome and composition of children, and (2) compare the urinary microbiome in pilot cohorts of children with and without rUTI. Long-term goals of the project are to develop a non-invasive clinical urine test that can predict children at high risk for rUTI and to develop a non-antibiotic intervention strategy for reducing rUTI in the identified at-risk population.
Congratulations also to Teresa Liu, PhD, Assistant Scientist in the UW-Madison Department of Urology and UW-Madison U54 George M. O’Brien Center. She was a prior K12 Scholar in the UW-Madison Multidisciplinary Urologic Research K12 Career Development Program. Dr. Liu’s CAIRIBU Collaboration award is for her proposal, “Prenatal estrogenic exposure contributes to racial disparity in the development of BPH/LUTS.” Dr. Liu’s hypothesis is that early exposure to estrogen leads to epigenetic changes in estrogen receptor and estrogen receptor-activated genes, resulting in higher susceptibility of African American men for benign prostate hyperplasia.